Savor This Moment

I walked out of my apartment, breathed in the crisp air that morning affords us, and scuttled to the mailbox to retrieve my mail. At the front entrance of our apartment building, there is a stone table accompanied by a bench that is often unoccupied as tenants are usually off to work at this time or occupied with their morning routine. However, this morning was different. Today there was a woman, hair carefully pinned back with a few strands brushing the left side of her face, sitting on the bench. I noticed she was holding a little boy in her lap, his cheek (kissed by the cold of the crisp air) was pressed up against the lapel of her jacket. He sang a sweet song, a song that I couldn't recognize, as his mother rocked him back and forth like a weather-beaten dinghy that floats atop a calm sea. She was calm. She was at peace, as if the world around her was a silenced blur. It was remarkable to see, considering the nature of the situation. See the situation is that the young boy's legs were limp. As I further examined the scene, I noticed that there were leg braces sitting on top of the bleach white stone table. Those braces served to replace what his legs failed him, just like his mother's unfailing love.

I didn't want to appear that I was staring so I continued to the outgoing mailbox to drop off some mail. It was at that moment, that I lost all care for the matters I had to attend to today. My eyes swelled, expressing what my heart spoke on the inside as tears streamed down my face. This wasn't the first time that I have seen a child with special needs. What was so different about this particular boy and his mother? Was it the apparent bond they shared? Perhaps it was because for the first time in my life, I witnessed siamese twins who were attached at the heart. Was it the sense of loss I feared his mother would face as she would have to kiss his rosy cheeks good-bye as they awaited the dreadful time the school bus would carry him away to a place where his heart beat couldn't be felt anymore? I imagined her waiting at the front entrance of our apartment building all day, anticipating his return. What was it that is so special about this mother's love for her son?

As I made my way back to my apartment, the tears continued to run uncontrollably down my cheeks as I tried to catch them before they splat against the concrete beneath me. They weren't tears of sorrow, but tears of joy. I believe God revealed something very special to me this morning--savor the precious moments you have with loved ones. Do not become preoccupied with your routine, so much so that you miss out on time--time that will never stop for you or for me, but instead will continue to slip right through our fingertips. However, I encourage you to pinch one minute of time out of your day before it slips away. Do what you will with it, but I intend to wrap my arms around my son, press his cheek close to my chest and imagine our hearts beat as one. Then when it is time to let go, I will anticipate his return so I can experience that moment all over again.